No Safe Spaces (Luke 23:1-25, Jeff Kliewer)

We are overwhelmed by your grace, because we are wicked sinners who deserve death.

And yet instead, you have substituted your one and only Son to die in our place, that we, having received

His righteousness, can stand in your presence. Redeemed sinners, Lord, thank you.

Thank you for your grace. It's enough, and we have nothing else. Lord, we pray that your grace would now stir us to deeper devotion.

We pray that your grace would awaken in us love for your word.

On our own, we are cold and dead toward this book. It's lifeless to us,

Lord. We have no desire for it. We pray that your grace would awaken us to hunger and thirst after righteousness, after your word.

Lord, we thank you for your word. And we ask now that you would bless the reading of it, the preaching of it.

Change us by your grace, through your word, in Jesus' name. Amen. The Chronicles of Narnia, a famous book by C .S.

Lewis. And in a famous scene, there's a question about going to see the king.

Aslan is a lion, the great lion. Oh, said

Susan, I thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel really nervous about meeting a lion.

Safe, said Mr. Beaver. Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe, but he's good.

He's the king, I tell you. Profound words in C .S. Lewis' children's novel.

A book for all of us, I think. The king is good.

But precisely because he is good, he is not safe. You see, goodness is loving, but goodness is also just.

The last thing that a criminal standing on trial would like to face is a good judge.

See, a good judge will judge justly. He will hear the trial, he will hear the charges, he will consider the evidence, and he will pronounce a judgment that is just.

And a criminal who has committed those crimes should fear a good judge. Jesus Christ is a king and a judge.

And he is good, but he is not safe. There are no safe spaces.

There's no safe spaces from the claims of Jesus Christ. I think we all have a tendency to want to be shielded and protected in the preconceptions that we already have.

We like to be affirmed in what we believe, but we want to be kept safe from things that we disagree with.

We would rather be comforted in our misconceptions or in our lies than to be faced with the truth.

But Jesus gives us no safe space in the truth war. As we open up the book of Luke today, chapter 23, verses 1 to 25, we have 25 verses in the crucifixion story leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

He's already been taken under arrest. 25 verses devoted to Pontius Pilate.

That's a lot of scripture. That's a large part of the story. And when you come across those 25 verses, what we should do as we approach that pericope, that section of scripture, is to say, why is this here?

Part of it is to tell the story. This is what happened. But why so much material? Why so much interaction between Pontius Pilate and the religious leaders?

What is Luke doing with what he is saying? The intention of the author in this section,

Luke, ultimately carried on by the Holy Spirit, the intention of God, is to show us in Pontius Pilate a caricature of those who reject

Jesus Christ, but seek to make a safe space for themselves, to coexist with Jesus, who don't want to come outright and reject

Jesus Christ, but would like to remain side by side with him as king in their own life, not submitted to the true king.

Pontius Pilate pictures for us rejection, because he wanted to remain comfortable.

He refused to do what Luke 10 -20 focuses on, the cost of discipleship.

Take up your cross and follow me, says the Lord. Now the cross is an instrument of death.

There's nothing comfortable about the cross. And the call to follow Jesus is a call to life.

It's a good message. It's good news. And yet it comes at great cost.

To be broken free from this world, to die to this world, to die to self, to bow the knee to the true king, comes at a cost.

So Jesus Christ is good, but he is not safe. There's no safety from his claim.

He makes it quickly in the early part of 23, verse 3, in four words he makes a claim that Pilate refuses to believe.

The call to follow Christ requires taking up a cross, which isn't safe, but there is life for those of us who do.

Let's read it. Luke 23, 1 -25, the story of Pontius Pilate. Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate, and they began to accuse him, saying, we found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar and saying that he himself is

Christ, a king. And Pilate asked him, are you the king of the

Jews? And he answered him, you have said so. Then Pilate said to the chief priests in the crowds,

I find no guilt in this man. But they were urgent, saying, he stirs up the people, teaching throughout all

Judea, from Galilee even to this place. When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a

Galilean. And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time.

When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him.

So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him.

And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate.

And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people and said to them, You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people.

And after examining him before you, behold, I do not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him.

Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. I will therefore punish and release him.

But they all cried out together, Away with this man and release to us Barabbas.

A man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder.

Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus. But they kept shouting,

Crucify, crucify him. A third time he said to them, Why, what evil has he done?

I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.

But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified.

And their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted.

He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked.

But he delivered Jesus over to their will. It's a story of rejection, ultimately.

But it's first a story about Pilate seeking another way, trying again and again, looking, making attempts to coexist and be safe from the claim that Jesus makes.

But make no mistake, in verse 3, Jesus claims to be the

Christ, a king. Verse 1, Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate, and they began to accuse him, saying,

We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is

Christ, a king. And Pilate asked him, Are you the king of the Jews?

And he answered him, You have said so. It's an affirmative answer, to be sure.

But notice that Jesus knows something about Pilate. The thoughts and very words that Pilate has spoken in his private chambers, as he's heard about this

Messiah figure riding into Jerusalem, at some point either he's thought it or he's literally said it.

Yeah, Jesus is the true king. Herod, no, not so much. Jesus knows his thoughts and he affirms the truth that Pilate is unwilling to confess in this moment.

Now why? 1 Timothy 6, verses 12 and 13 says that Jesus makes the good confession in the presence of Pontius Pilate.

And we also are to make the good confession in the presence of many witnesses to declare that Jesus is

Lord. But at what cost do we say Jesus is

Lord? If Pontius Pilate accepts the kingship, the lordship, the messiahship of Jesus Christ in this moment, it will cost him everything.

He needs in this moment to bow the knee to the Messiah, to acknowledge that Jesus is king of kings and lord of lords.

There would be a great cost to abdicate his throne, to reject

Caesar as Lord and confess Jesus as Lord. This would come at great cost. It would cost

Pilate everything. Brothers and sisters, our confession of Christ comes at a cost.

There is a cost to following Jesus and in America we're somewhat sheltered by it. By the fact that this has been, by and large, a

Christian nation in the sense that there's been a lot of Christians here, certainly not ever established as a theocracy or anything like that, but we've lived in a sheltered country.

I like what David Wood shared yesterday at the Apologetics Conference. He said, listen, when

I talk to Nabil before Nabil was saved, or when you talk to any of your Muslim friends and you tell them that you have good news for them, that Jesus is

Lord, that he died on a cross, that he rose from the dead, that you need to humble yourself, bow the knee and trust

Jesus Christ as your savior, you call that good news. But here's how the

Muslim hears it. He hears you lose your family and your entire social network, you're cut off, they'll bury a casket for you.

One. Number two, you might lose your head. You might be killed.

It's the responsibility of the family to kill the one who converts away from Islam to trust in Christ.

You lose your soul. Number three, the greatest sin in Islam is shirk, partnership with God, associating any with God.

If you say Jesus is God, you've committed shirk, you're going to hell. And David Wood said, when a

Muslim hears good news, that sounds like the worst news ever.

Comes at a cost. Now what we need to do is to bring the message of life that yes, you lose, but read the words of Christ.

You might lose your father, your mother, your sisters, your brothers, houses, farms, everything. But come follow me,

I give you eternal life. There's a cost to following Jesus.

Pontius Pilate isn't willing to pay that price. In verse three, are you the king of the

Jews? You have said so. Then Pilate said to the chief priests, this is his first effort to placate the

Jews. His first attempt to wash his hands of the situation, to pacify the

Jews and let Jesus go on making his claims, but not deal with the force of what

Jesus says. Verse four, then Pilate said to the chief priests in the crowds, I find no guilt in this man.

And this is the answer that our culture would like to give to Jesus Christ. No accusation against him.

We like the teachings of Jesus. I was sharing the gospel in the gym, shooting hoops with the guy a couple of nights ago.

And I shared the I am statements of Christ. And he said he was

Jewish, but then it turned out that he'd only read a couple paragraphs of the Torah. He actually was more of a pantheist.

He believes that God is everything in everything. And as I talked with him more, I said, well, what do you believe?

What do you hear when Jesus says I am? Well, as a pantheist, he had more of a mindset of kind of new age mysticism.

And he liked the idea that Jesus claimed to be God. He said in the same way

I can be God, God is in everything. And I am in God and God is in me. And I am

God in the same way. I like what you're saying. See, he wasn't hearing Jesus at his own terms. Pontius Pilate was willing to coexist with Jesus.

Our culture is willing to coexist with Jesus on our culture's own terms.

To redefine Jesus, maybe as a Buddhist, a yogi, someone who preaches a message of tolerance and love and acceptance of all religion being equally valid.

But listen, we are to tolerate others and love them even, beyond toleration.

But toleration does not mean that we accept all views as equally valid. That we embrace or affirm truth that contradicts what

Jesus says. Ultimately, the question is, will we submit to Jesus Christ in what he says about himself?

He's uniquely claiming to be the Son of God. Pilate wanted to carve out some safe space for himself here.

He's not working on two fronts. One, he has not bowed the knee to Jesus Christ. And number two, the

Jewish people are not willing to accept his solution. So keep reading. Verse six, when Pilate heard this, well in verse five, they're urgent, he stirs up the people, teaching throughout all

Judea, from Galilee even to this place. They continue to charge Jesus, now catch this, with insurrection.

In verse two, notice what's common about the three charges. We found him misleading our nation, one, forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, which is an outright lie because what did he say?

Render to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, the things that are God, things that belong to God. And saying that he himself is

Christ, a king. They're stirring up Pilate to say, listen Pilate, there's a threat to your throne here.

That's the charge, he's an insurrectionist. But they refuse to let him off so easily.

Verse six, when Pilate heard this, that Jesus was from Galilee, he finds a second way out.

The first time, hey let's just let him go, let's drop this. The second time he says, all right, let me send him off to Herod.

Let Herod deal with this. Because he's from Herod's jurisdiction, he's a

Galilean, that's his out. Verse eight, when Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad. And now we have a picture of outright mockery and rejection.

And some people go down this road. Most people want to carve out a new Jesus and create a safe space to coexist with him.

But some people will outright reject and mock Jesus Christ.

This is Herod. He tries to question him. And notice in verse nine, whatever

Herod asks, Jesus is silent. Isaiah 53, like a lamb being led to the slaughter so he does not open his mouth.

He doesn't respond at all. And Herod's response to that is mockery. The chief priests scribes, verse 10, are vehemently accusing him.

Verse 11, Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him.

We learn from the other gospels what that looked like. A purple robe, because he claims to be king.

Oh, you claim to be a king? Here's a crown for your head. And they weave together thorns and they press it down over his brow so that the blood flows across his face.

And they cover his face and they hit him with a club and say, prophesy to us, who hits you?

They mock him. Outright rejection of the king. And they send him back to Pilate.

And now Pilate has him on his hands once again. He can't escape the claims of Jesus.

Listen, when someone shows up on the scene claiming, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the

Father but through me. I am the living water. I am the bread of life. I am the gate for the sheep.

Before Abraham was even born, I am. And in the garden when he's being arrested, who are you seeking?

I am. We hear from the gospels that when he said, I am, the soldiers who were there to arrest him literally fell down.

There's something about that ego a me. I am who I am. He's claiming to be

God. The burning bush, Exodus 3, 14. Who shall

I say sent me? I am who I am. Tell Pharaoh, I am sent you.

When Jesus shows up claiming, ego a me, I am. He's claiming to be

God. And listen, no one can escape that claim. As hard as Pilate's trying here, there's no escape.

Either you bow the knee to the Lord, or you consider him a lunatic, and you mock him, or you call him a liar, and you reject him.

But there's no safe space. Try as he may, Pilate wants to reject, wants to be free of this.

Verse 13. Called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, you brought me this man as one who was misleading the people.

And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him.

Neither did Herod. See, now he wants to leverage a second opinion. Look, we sent him to Herod. And Herod agrees with me.

That's why they're friends now. Their opposition to Jesus becomes their point of commonality. You'll see that in society today too.

You'll see some strange bedfellows. The common denominator is opposition to Jesus and the claims of Christ.

Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. Verse 16.

I will therefore punish. For what? Punish and release him.

Pilate is trying desperately to assuage the Jewish leaders. To placate them.

Look, I'll beat him. I'll punish him. And then we'll let him go. That's enough. Herod agrees with me.

Verse 18. But they all cried out together, away with this man and release to us

Barabbas. You all following the text? Everybody's following along, right?

Did you notice verse 17 is missing? We just jumped from 16 to 18 and in the

ESV, we're missing a number. Where did it go? I'll take a moment to comment on that because if your eye caught it, you'd want to know.

Well, the earliest manuscripts do not have verse 17.

And don't let that rattle your cage because we believe in the inspiration of the original manuscripts, what was originally written.

Verse 17, found in some manuscripts that come later, says, now he was obliged to release one man to them at the festival.

We find that clarifying statement in Matthew and Mark. But Luke doesn't have it.

One of the most respected, earliest manuscripts is P75, Papyrus 75.

It's held in the Vatican right now, the library in the Vatican. P75 does not have verse 17.

So where did it come from? The most likely answer is that a scribe who had been copying this over the years has read

Matthew, he's read Mark, and he notices that the story doesn't explain it here.

And he wants to add some explanation. So as he's copying, he makes a note.

Maybe he never intended that note to wind up in some translations of the Bible. But he makes a note and that ends up in the textual tradition that flows from that manuscript.

That's the most likely answer. So what we have here, 16 jumping to 18, is actually, more than likely, the right reading.

The original reading. In fact, I think we can be very confident of that. Because the earliest manuscripts don't have that.

So you say, well wait a minute, that messes up the Bible. No. The numbering system that we have came much later.

1600s, I believe. Might have been the 1500s. The numbering system, I'll have to look that up,

I'm not sure. Anybody know? It came much later. So the numbering system is not inspired.

This is not inspired numbers. So just the fact that that's missing, don't let that rattle you.

What we have here is the original. So continuing on, verse 18. But they all cried out together, away with this man, and release to us

Barabbas. And here we see Pilate's effort. He's thinking about this amnesty.

On the day of the Passover, there's a tradition in Judaism that you release one prisoner.

Good. Let me take advantage of that. Let me just suggest, look, how about this.

We'll say he's guilty, and then we'll just let him go because there's a tradition. And instead, the people will say, release to us who?

Barabbas. Now that is interesting. Because the name

Barabbas means son of the father. And I don't think that's coincidence.

And the charge against Jesus is insurrection. He stirs up the people.

He's offering himself as another king who rules a different kingdom. And Barabbas is accused of and guilty of insurrection.

He in fact had led a revolt. There was often revolts in the history of Jerusalem and in Israel trying to overthrow the

Roman oppressors. He had led one of those, and he's on trial.

He's waiting for his execution. And so you have a son of the father, an insurrectionist, a true murderer, awaiting his death penalty on one side.

And you have the genuine son of the father, the innocent one, exonerated of all charges on the other side.

And who do the people choose? Barabbas. What clearer picture could we have of the substitutionary atonement of our

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Because see, I am Barabbas. I am the guilty sinner.

I am the insurrectionist. I want to be the king of my life. I want to live how I want to live.

I want to make choices that please the flesh and the world. This is us.

We are Barabbas. We are the ones who set ourselves up on the throne of our own hearts.

As if we're not created, like we're the creator. We want to be king.

And yet Jesus stands in for us. The righteous for the unrighteous to bring us to God, 1

Peter 3, 17. Substitution. The true son of the father, the innocent and righteous one, stands in and here the insurrectionist is let go.

I am set free by the blood that is spilled for me. Isaiah 53.

Over and over again. He led like a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep doesn't open his mouth, so he is silent before his accusers.

He offers himself as a sacrifice in our place and by his wounds we are healed.

That's the essence of the gospel. Substitution. The righteous for the unrighteous. Verse 19.

A man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection started in the city and for murder, verse 20,

Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, crucify, crucify him.

A third time. Now notice this isn't the third time in the whole story, this is once they brought him back.

He's already been to Herod. Pilate, the first time, tried to just say, look, he's innocent, let him go.

The second time he tried to send him to Herod to let him go, and then coming back he's dealing with them, and this is actually times 3, 4, and 5.

But it says the third time here, since coming back from seeing Herod, he tries again.

You notice the desperation in Pilate. He wants his kingdom. He doesn't want to get off the throne.

He knows Jesus is innocent. He just wants to get him out.

Verse 22, why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death.

I will therefore punish and release him. But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified.

And here, finally, this thinly veiled rejection, where he's trying to be on Jesus' side without truly submitting to him, becomes what it actually is.

Outright rejection. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted.

He ultimately had to make a choice, didn't he? And he chose against Jesus.

He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered

Jesus over to their will. There's no safe space from him who has the power to cast into hell.

Luke 12, verse 5. Jesus says, do not fear man.

They can destroy your body, but fear him who has the power not only to destroy a body, but to cast a soul into hell.

Jesus is the king. Pilate found that any effort to carve out a comfortable coexistence side by side with Jesus is a thinly veiled version of outright rejection.

It may feel more virtuous, but it is still mockery, rebellion, and insurrection.

Jesus commands all people everywhere to repent and believe the gospel. Today our culture is filled with pilots, little kings who rule their own lives, and they shamefully just push

Jesus into a corner. But the only right response to Jesus is to bow the knee.

And that's where we are this morning. Pontius Pilate is an example of those who for maybe many years keep looking for another way to coexist with Jesus without bowing the knee.

This morning, have you trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

Have you called on Him to save you? Have you humbled yourself and bowed the knee and said,

Jesus Christ is Lord. He is King. He is ruler of my life.

I submit my life to Him. He is my Lord and Savior. Here I am,

Lord, send me. Do with me as you please. Have you bowed the knee to Jesus Christ? Maybe you've been running from Him.

Looking for another way. You don't want to humble yourself.

You don't want to bow the knee. This morning could be your last. We never know how long we have.

See, this message is ultimately good news. Because if you'll humble yourself like a beggar and bow the knee to Him who is a

King. He says He is willing to carry your cross, to stand in for you, to die the death that you deserve.

He has done that already. It is finished. It only remains that you humble yourself and call on Him to save you.

Trust Him for salvation. Bow the knee. Close with the words of Matthew West, a song called

Broken Things. If grace was a kingdom, I'd stop at the gate, thinking

I don't deserve to pass through after all the mistakes that I've made. Oh, but I heard a whisper as heaven bent down.

It said, child, don't you know that the first will be last and the last get a crown.

Now I'm just a beggar in the presence of a King. I wish

I could bring so much more. But if it's true, you use broken things, then here

I am Lord, I'm all yours. We're just beggars.

Many of us, hopefully all of us, have bowed the knee as a beggar and said,

Jesus, You are King! You are Lord! I trust You! You alone can save!

And He will take us, these broken things, and use us for His kingdom, for His glory.

But there's only room for one true King. Amen? Jesus Christ! There's no room for Pontius Pilate on the throne.

And there's no room for you! There's room for one

King. Let's close in a word of prayer and I'm just gonna call you to repent and believe.

If there's any here that have not trusted in Christ alone to save you, don't be

Pontius Pilate. In the end, He's lost. He's rejected the King. He chose the kingdom for Himself.

He lost His soul. What will it profit you if you gain the whole world but lose your soul?

Bow the head. Bow your head, please. And bow the knee. Figuratively speaking, in the presence of Jesus Christ.

If you've never trusted in Christ, or you're not sure that you have, in the quietness of your heart, say,

I am a sinner. I am a beggar. I have nothing to bring to you,

God. But my eyes have been opened to see the true

King. And I confess, Jesus is Lord. He died on the cross to take my punishment.

Take my sin away. He was buried, but I believe

He rose from the dead. He sits at the right hand of the Father as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

I believe in Jesus. Jesus, You are my King. So today,

I'm getting off the throne. I don't care what it costs me. I don't care about my pride.

I'd be willing to confess in the presence of witnesses. Jesus is

Lord. I make the good confession in the presence of witnesses.

Jesus is Lord. I am no King. I cannot save myself.

Like a beggar, I cry, God, save me. Jesus, save me.

I am yours. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.